T/N
Only 10 people voted yet the opening was open to all members. Anyway, the result was that 50% chose for me to adda another story while continuing this one, which I have. The schedule remains a chapter a day for this story and the new one.
Happy reading!!!
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Akiyama Ren stood quietly beside Maki Zen'in, a faint glint of approval in his eyes.
The moment he saw her channeling Magic Power to substitute for Cursed Energy in order to activate Jujutsu-based techniques, he couldn't help but nod with satisfaction. Maki's adaptive learning was more than just impressive—it was revolutionary. Her Heavenly Restriction had cut her off from conventional cursed energy manipulation, but now, through arcane knowledge passed down from Ren's unique arsenal, she had carved a new path.
"She's finally syncing theory with application," he thought with pride.
"Let's move," Maki said, her voice clear and resolute as she tightened her grip on her weapon.
Ren gave a small nod. "Right behind you."
Together, they stepped into the boundary dome—the Curtain—Maki had conjured earlier. The moment they entered, an oppressive wave of thick, volatile Cursed Energy rushed toward them like a crashing tide.
The Curtain had forced the Curse Spirit into full manifestation. There would be no turning back now.
Crouched inside a partially collapsed house was an impossibly tall woman with sleek black hair cascading down her back. She was dressed in a flowing white dress, and a large straw hat obscured most of her face. Her figure was... unnervingly perfect, statuesque to the point of being surreal. The only sound was the eerie, low-pitched "bo... bo... bo..." noise echoing from her throat as she slowly turned to face a boy seated inside the house watching television.
"She's huge," Ren muttered under his breath. "Nearly three meters tall…"
Her image stirred a vague memory from his past life—a twisted urban legend turned internet horror. But the humor vanished the moment her head snapped in their direction.
The Curse Spirit—Yasakashakusama, the Eight-Shaku Woman—locked eyes with them. Her transformation was immediate.
The once seductive allure vanished. Her face twisted into something grotesque: eyes turned into hollow voids, her lips stretched unnaturally wide, revealing jagged, shark-like teeth. Her laugh warped into a gurgling hiss.
Ren grimaced. "Yikes. That's nightmare fuel."
Maki glanced at him sideways. "She's a Curse, not some AV actress. Focus."
With a sharp smirk, she raised her middle finger toward the towering spirit—a taunt.
The provocation worked.
With a shriek that cut through the tension like steel wire, Yasakashakusama lunged, her limbs stretching inhumanly. Her fingernails elongated into bladed claws, slicing through the wooden walls as she burst out of the house.
Maki was ready.
She spun her katana, Mist Splitter Reforged, in a wide arc—a weapon forged through a blend of spiritual metallurgy and high-tier enchantment glyphs. Its edge shimmered with violet radiance. She met the Curse head-on, her movements swift and precise.
The first clash came with a resounding clang. Maki's sword severed the grotesque nail-blades cleanly.
The Curse staggered—but did not fall. Cursed Energy surged through her arms, regrowing her blades in an instant.
Maki narrowed her eyes. "Let's see how much you can regenerate."
She inhaled and called forth the Magic Power that coursed through her body. Her physique tensed, and muscle mass rippled beneath her uniform, not in a bulky or exaggerated way, but with the hardened definition of a seasoned warrior.
With a chant whispered under her breath, she activated the dual enchantments carved into her blade: Calamity Severance and Ruin Purge—Exorcist Arts enhanced through arcane fusion.
The katana pulsed.
First with violet light.
Then came the red lightning, coiling around the blade like a living entity.
Yasakashakusama hesitated. For the first time, the spirit feared her prey.
But it was too late.
Maki surged forward and unleashed a sweeping strike, her blade howling through the air. Purple sword energy, entwined with crimson lightning, slammed into the Curse's torso.
The spirit shrieked—a horrible, metallic sound like tortured steel—and her body cracked, split, and exploded into dispersing particles of Cursed Energy.
Silence followed.
Maki lowered her blade, exhaling softly. A triumphant smile touched her lips.
She had done it.
The Grade 1 Imaginary Curse Spirit—Yasakashakusama, the Eight-Shaku Woman—had been exorcised by her own hand. No backup. No clan assistance. Just her, her blade, and the new path she'd carved with Magic Power and Exorcist Techniques taught by Akiyama Ren. Let the Zen'in elders try to suppress her now.
She could already imagine their expressions when they saw the report.
Let's see them call me a failure again.
But just as that victorious thought took root, Ren's voice cut through the quiet.
"Don't relax. She's not done yet."
Maki's pupils contracted. Her instincts flared.
Without hesitation, she activated her Spirit Sight Technique, her irises briefly glowing with a faint ethereal hue. Her vision peeled back the natural layer of the world—revealing spiritual activity beyond the veil.
A sinister swell of Cursed Energy was gathering… at the foot of the mountain behind the village.
Maki took off running, her footsteps light and fast as wind. When she arrived at the source, her breath caught.
Several crude gravestones—unmarked and hastily arranged—lay embedded in the earth. The burial sites of the young boys who had been drained of their vitality by Yasakashakusama.
Now, they pulsed.
One by one, the soil erupted.
Twisted corpses clawed their way from the earth, their limbs contorting unnaturally. Bones cracked. Faces elongated. And then, like dark reflections in a cursed mirror, they transformed into new manifestations of the Eight-Shaku Woman.
Thirteen of them.
Each exuding the malevolence of a Grade 1 Curse.
And yet—they did not attack.
They walked forward.
Together.
"No… you can't be serious…" Maki whispered, dread rising in her throat.
They began to merge.
Their bodies liquefied into spiritual mass, drawn together like iron to a magnet. A singular, malevolent entity was forming—something far worse than before.
"I can't let this happen!" Maki shouted, lunging forward.
But she was too late.
A fourteenth figure burst from the earth behind her.
Its claws flashed.
SHRRRIP—!
Maki spun just in time to intercept with Mist Splitter Reforged, blocking the surprise attack. The force of the blow launched her backward. She hit the ground and slid several meters, boots digging into the dirt. Her arms trembled from the impact—but she was unharmed.
The intel… it said fourteen victims.
The realization hit her like a cursed nail to the spine.
Thirteen had been bait.
The last was the ambush.
The fusion was complete.
Where once stood thirteen individual Curses now stood a monstrous female giant—easily thirteen meters tall. Her body was grotesque, her skin peeled away to reveal exposed muscle and tendons. Her eyes lacked pupils, and her long black hair draped like a funeral veil. Her silhouette was horrifyingly similar to a certain titan from another world—a cursed imitation of the Female Titan.
Then, as if things weren't already bad enough, the fourteenth Eight-Shaku Woman approached the giant's side and began merging into her as well.
The Curse's body expanded again—14 meters tall now.
Her spiritual presence became suffocating.
There was no longer any doubt.
This was a Special Grade Curse Spirit, and not just any—this one was dangerously close to being high-tier even among Special Grades.
Maki's breathing became shallow. Her heart pounded.
Her grip tightened on her sword.
She repeated words in her mind, like a mantra.
I'm stronger now. I've surpassed who I was. I can beat her. I have to!
Ren stepped forward beside her, his tone calm but firm.
"Maki, stand down. I'll handle the rest."
His eyes narrowed slightly, scanning the Curse's structure, analyzing its spiritual density.
This thing had ascended. Its regenerative potential and Cursed Energy reserve had already surpassed what most sorcerers could deal with.
Even Maki—enhanced as she was by Ren's teachings and the mystical properties of Mist Splitter Reforged—stood little chance against something with this much raw Cursed Energy.
If she fought now, she'd only burn herself out before landing a decisive blow.
But Maki Zen'in didn't waver.
"I want to try," she said firmly, her voice unshaken.
Ren glanced at her—his expression unreadable.
Then he gave her a small nod, just once.
"Alright. Then don't hold back."
Because the next battle wasn't just against a Curse.
It was a battle to prove that even someone born powerless could rewrite their fate.